The Hallmark Playhouse Radio Program

When Hallmark Playhouse first aired in 1948 it had somewhat modernized its logo as above.
1949 marked the year that Hallmark redesigned their logo to the more commonly recognized logo above, including Hallmark's 'hallmark'--its now-ubiquitous, five-pointed crown.

Hallmark briefly drew the ire of AFRA with its Meet the Navy productions of 1942 and 1943.

Hallmark Cards of the era prominently featured the works of both Grandma Moses and Norman Rockwell.

Grandma Moses blows at the candles on the huge birthday cake decorated with elements of her signature paintings.

Note the illustration above, used in Hallmark's print media advertising for the Fall season of 1949. It's from the Life spread on Grandma Moses' 88th birthday. (Click for full-size, two-page spread)

Compare the two-page ad above with the Norman Rockwell-themed Life spread for Christmas 1949 (Click above for full-size ad)

Billboard announcement of the renewal of Hallmark Playhouse for the Fall of 1948

In 1951, Hallmark began producing its Hallmark Hall of Fame over both Radio (CBS--1953) and Television (NBC--1951)
(Click for full-size ad)

Background

Founded by Mr. Joyce C. Hall in 1910, the Hall Family's internationally famous greeting card company adopted the name, Hallmark, in 1928 and its now ubiquitous slogan, "When you care enough to send the very best," in 1944. The 1940s were Hallmark's most ambitious period of expansion, finding Hallmark advertising internationally over print media and Radio, primarily. During the 1940s and early 1950s, Hallmark sponsored the following Radio productions:

1940 Tony Won's Scrapbook

1942 Meet The Navy [Meet Your Navy/This is Our Navy]

1944 The Hallmark Charlotte Greenwood Show

1946 Radio Reader’s Digest

1948 Hallmark Playhouse

1953 Hallmark Hall of Fame

Playhouse 25 [AFRS]

Note that the Playhouse 25 canon, an orginal production of the Armed Forces Radio Service, comprised AFRS-denatured selections from both Hallmark Playhouse and the Screen Guild Theatre, among others.

Hallmark's second sponsored outing eventually drew controversy--and threats from the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA)--with Hallmark's sponsorship of Meet The Navy [Meet Your Navy/This is Our Navy] in 1943. The issue revolved around the principle of uniformed servicemen competing with civilian performers, a practice specifically proscribed in a 1916 Army regulation. While not affecting the first two seasons of This is Our Navy, by the Fall of 1943 the issue came to a head with Hallmark's sponsorship of "The Bluejacket Choir," a CBS [WBBM, Chicago] production featuring the sailors' choir from Great Lakes Training Station.

Hallmark's generous interim solution was to employ eleven civilian 'stand-by' singers, compensated by Hallmark as card-carrying union performers, though not actually performing in lieu of The Bluejacket Choir. The compromise measure, though simply an expedient, met with the approval of both The Navy Department and AFRA. When it came time for Hallmark to renew with CBS [WBBM] for it's Meet Your Navy and The Bluejacket Choir [Blue Network] productions, The Blue Network got the nod, agreeing to make Meet Your Navy an all-serviceman production directed by newly commissioned Navy Lieutenant, George Zachery, of Columbia Workshop and Ellery Queen fame. That hurdle having been surmounted, the series ran under the new arrangement for at least 26 more weeks. Lessons learned all around, Hallmark resolved to limit its future sponsorship to commercial dramatic productions only. AFRA was happy, The Navy was happy, and the Networks were happy. Indeed everyone came out smelling like roses, except for Hallmark, whose sterling reputation had been mildly challenged due to the broadcasting industry notoriety.
Reminded of the axiom, "no good deed goes unpunished," Hallmark moved forward from that point into exclusively commercial dramatic productions--the only exception being its The Hallmark Charlotte Greenwood Show, a situation comedy already under negotiation, airing as an extension of Charlotte Greenwood's 1944 summer replacement program for The Bob Hope Program. Hallmark picked up the tab for the Fall 1944 production of The Hallmark Charlotte Greenwood Show, which ran over ABC from October 1944 through January 1946.

On the primary business side, it was also the mid-1940s that found Hallmark teaming with some of America's finest artists and illustrators to grace the covers of their greeting cards. The two most famous of the era were Grandma Moses and Norman Rockwell, whose illustrations and paintings graced Hallmark's "Gallery Artists" series of seasonal greeting cards of the mid-1940s. The reception of the Gallery Artists series of cards was so great that magazines of the era, most notably, Life Magazine, featured both Hallmark and its artists in at least three feature articles of the era in addition to Hallmark's seasonal advertising.

Hallmark's evolution as a sponsor and producer of award-winning dramatic productions began with their 1946 sponsorship of Radio Reader's Digest until June 1948, at which time Hallmark began producing its own seventy-year, signature series of dramatic programming over Radio, then Television, and ultimately Cable and Satellite Television. The Hallmark Playhouse led to it's Hallmark Hall of Fame productions, produced simultaneously over Radio (CBS) and Television (NBC) from 1951, forward. Hallmark's prestigious Hallmark Hall of Fame franchise has garnered on the order of eighty prime-time Emmys over the years.

Hallmark and CBS bring Hallmark Playhouse to the air

Having sponsored Radio Reader's Digest for its three final seasons, Hallmark determined that its promotional aims could best be served by producing its own signature drama anthology, Hallmark Playhouse, which began airing on June 10, 1948, the week following its last sponsorship of Radio Reader's Digest. Hallmark Playhouse immediately set out to raise the bar in quality, production values, and talent, once its own name was attached to the production. Those earliest Hallmark Playhouse productions eventually evolved into one of Radio and Television's longest running, most prestigious, star-studded, and critically acclaimed dramatic series' in broadcasting history.

Hallmark's sponsorship of Radio Reader's Digest, while a moderately successful promotional vehicle in its own right, found Hallmark airing predominantly adventure, crime, and mystery dramas, characteristic of the type of short stories found in the print version of Reader's Digest of the era. These were mostly compelling, suspenseful, or occasionally salacious short stories one might have found in any popular pulp digests and journals of the era.

It would appear that Hallmark's principal intent in mounting its own signature series of dramatic productions over Radio was to associate its name and sponsorship with a more prestigious and wholesome brand of well-produced and engineered dramas. Indeed, the stark contrast between Hallmark's own signature productions of 1948 and beyond, and those of Radio Reader's Digest, tend to support this hypothesis. And as the quality and critical acclaim of the Hallmark Playhouse dramas increased over its five-year run, Hallmark's reputation for sponsoring a far higher calibre of drama inevitably led to its long-running Hallmark Hall of Fame franchise. In this respect, in particular, it's entirely appropriate to consider Hallmark Playhouse as the initial 'template' that ultimately resulted in Hallmark's remarkable series of award-winning Hallmark Hall of Fame productions of 1951 and beyond.
The Hallmark Playhouse ushered in a higher quality of production almost from its inception. Perhaps as much as to differentiate itself from its previous three-year sponsorship of Radio Reader's Digest, Hallmark mounted its Hallmark Playhouse with the best soundbooth, soundstage, and music direction it could obtain, world-class dramatic vehicles, the finest scripters and adapters of the era, and some of the era's finest acting talent. The Summer 'replacement' of Radio Reader's Digest was a shoe-in to be picked up in the Fall of 1948--and so it was.

A Hollywood production, world-acclaimed American novelist James Hilton hosted Hallmark Playhouse, lending his fame, demonstrated appreciation for classic fiction, and renowned critic's weight to the production. And indeed, that first season of Hallmark Playhouse was marked by predominantly fiction dramas. The season opener dramatized Stephen Vincent Benét's fiction classic, The Devil and Daniel Webster, with Alan Reed and John McIntyre in the leading roles. Adapted by Jean Holloway and directed by Bill Gay, the premiere production was well mounted and entertaining. Lyn Murray's music direction of Hallmark Playhouse would continue for another four seasons, in yet another 'hallmark' of the overall quality of Hallmark Playhouse.

Hallmark's messaging itself was skillfully crafted into most presentations. Subtle, yet effective, the intertwined commercial messages represented one of the more novel and tasteful commercial gambits of the era and continued on through Hallmark's sponsorship of all of its productions going forward. Hallmark's clear intent--to introduce class into both its messaging and its dramatic productions--paved the way for all of the Hallmark productions that followed--well into the beginning of the 21st century.

The 'Playhouse' format of Radio drama first entered popularity in the late 1920s, experiencing recurring popularity over the following thirty years. Hallmark Playhouse appears to have ushered in a resurgence of 'Playhouse' format dramatic programming, given the number of 'Playhouse' productions that began airing shortly after the premiere of Hallmark Playhouse on June 10, 1948. This, by way of explaining both the aggressive competition in Radio between 1947 and 1953, and the competing networks' desires to capitalize on the success of an emerging, competing, high-quality program.A by-product of the number of 'Playhouse' productions of the era was that as newspaper listings began the inevitable trend toward emphasizing Television programming over Radio programming, the Radio listings of the era could often contain three to five productions every week listed simply as 'Playhouse.' Indeed the productions most often mistaken for or conflated with Hallmark Playhouse were the various Philip Morris Playhouse programs of the era. Compounding the problem, Hollywood Star Playhouse aired over NBC a half-hour earlier than Hallmark Playhouse in most major markets. Confusing enough in its day, Radio historians of today find the situation even more exasperating as they attempt to research the Hallmark Playhouse canon seventy years later.

In the Fall of 1952, Hallmark Playhouse began airing on Sunday evenings until February of 1953, at which point it transitioned to the Hallmark Hall of Fame canon, again hosted by Lionel Barrymore. Hallmark's television productions of The Hallmark Hall of Fame had begun airing over NBC Television in October 1951. Debuting to overnight critical and popular acclaim, Hallmark's television production of The Hallmark Hall of Fame begged the obvious argument to capitalize on that acceptance by rebranding Hallmark Playhouse as The Hallmark Hall of Fame over Radio or "The Hallmark Radio Hall of Fame," so as to further differentiate them. And so it was that while NBC Television was airing The Hallmark Hall of Fame over the 'orthicon tube' across America, stalwart fans of The Hallmark Hall of Fame over Radio could continue to listen to it for another three seasons over CBS Radio.

But as we've often noted in other articles, the appearance of a Television production of an airing Radio program generally marked the beginning of the end for the Radio production. Rare exceptions of the era were Dragnet, Have Gun Will Travel, Our Miss Brooks, and The Life of Riley, among a handful of others. Even the more ardently and loyally supported Radio productions with Television counterparts eventually gave way to their Television productions. Such was the novelty, popularity, and growing influence of Television during the 1950s. A 'vast wasteland' to some, the proverbial 'candy store to a kid' for others, Television inexorably wrested audience attention from Radio to Television and so, for all intents and purposes, ended The Golden Age of Radio.

Series Derivatives:

Radio Reader's Digest; The Hallmark Hall of Fame [Radio (1953) and Television (1951)]; Playhouse 25 [AFRS]; Bookshelf of The World [AFRS]; This Is The Story [AFRS]; The Hallmark Hall of Fame series over cable; The Hallmark Channel [Cable television]

The most helpful provenances were the log of the radioGOLDINdex and newspaper listings. The most inaccurate was Martin Grams' Radio Drama.

OTRisms:

The radioGOLDINdex, usually a reliable source for radio program transcription information, cites an episode of Hallmark Playhouse at December 25, 1947, titled, "The Only Wise Man." When we first encountered Goldin's entry for this alleged episode we thought it might have been either a preview of Hallmark Playhouse or a one-off special under a Hallmark Playhouse banner. Unfortunately, the entry is uncharacteristically in error on several counts:

It's not a Hallmark Playhouse exemplar at all. It's from the Casey, Crime Photographer canon.

It wasn't sponsored by Hallmark Cards. It was sponsored by Anchor Hocking.

This can be verified by multiple newspaper listings of the era, one of which we've included in the sidebar at left.

Widely conflated with the various Philip Morris Playhouse and Hollywood Star Playhouse productions that ran concurrent with Hallmark Playhouse, most of the existing logs of Hallmark Playhouse fall into the same trap we almost encountered in logging the Hallmark Playhouse canon ourselves--including 'OTR author,' Martin Grams, Jr..

Again--and again, and again, and again--the key, as always, lies in actually listening to the programs one logs. The Philip Morris Playhouse aired over the same network and in the same approximate timeslot as Hallmark Playhouse [though on different weeknights] for two to three years. In addition, Hollywood Star Playhouse aired over NBC a half-hour earlier than Hallmark Playhouse during the Fall season of 1952. [Hollywood Star Playhouse was the production over which Jimmy Stewart's first performance of The Six Shooter was broadcast. ] This is undoubtedly the reason for between eighteen and thirty-two erroneous titles having entered other widely circulating logs of the Hallmark Playhouse canon over the years. And, incidentally, that's the very reason we undertook our Definitive collection of Golden Age Radio articles and logs in the first place. We'd love to crank out 10 to 15 logs a month like some of our competitors in the hobby. And of course, if we simply dispensed with listening to what we log, we could possibly approach that level of output ourselves. We simply don't subscribe to the widely held OTR notion that quantity trumps quality. Others in the vintage Radio community seem to feel the opposite. We're standing pat on our own methodology and research protocols.
Of the remaining circulating titles (e.g., those not conflated with the Philip Morris Playhouse or Hollywood Star Playhouse productions) at least twenty are simply in error--ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. The key--again--lies in loggers failing to actually listen to what they log.

Remarkably, for a program running almost four years, as best as we can determine there were no preemptions of the canon for its entire run. As such, the episode sequencing for Hallmark Playhouse has a very high level of integrity--once one eliminates all of the bogus Phillip Morris Playhouse episodes that have been superfluously attached to this canon for thirty years.

Given one of the more regrettable characteristics of this hobby--wishful thinking--we weren't very surprised to disover that we'd gotten punked with a version of The Story of Silent Night that we thought we had, but didn't:

The probable most widely circulating exemplar of The Story of Silent Night is the recording of its first broadcast, Episode 29, dated December 23, 1948. The giveaway is Lyn Murray's announcement of the following episode to be James Hilton's own Lost Horizon. If you suspect you got punked like we did, listen to your own exemplar(s) to determine whether--or not--they contain the above mentioned provenance.

The good news is that tens of thousands of Hallmark Playhouse collectors now have only 191 episodes to collect instead of 211 episodes. Going even further, there are only 188 original scripts to be collected in the canon, unless one has a fetish for repeat broadcasts. The bad news is that in all likelihood, this is the only vintage Radio log in the world that will tell you that. Of course if you wish to keep hunting for those other 20 imaginary titles, we wish you well. And so it goes . . .

What you see here, is what you get. Complete transparency. We have no 'credentials' whatsoever--in any way, shape, or form--in the 'otr community'--none. But here's how we did it--for better or worse. Here's how you can build on it yourselves--hopefully for the better. Here are the breadcrumbs--just follow the trail a bit further if you wish. No hobbled downloads. No misdirection. No posturing about our 'credentials.' No misrepresentations. No strings attached. We point you in the right direction and you're free to expand on it, extend it, use it however it best advances your efforts.

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We continue to provide honest research into these wonderful Golden Age Radio programs simply because we love to do it. If you feel that we've provided you with useful information or saved you some valuable time regarding this log--and you'd like to help us even further--you can help us keep going. Please consider a small donation here:

We don't pronounce our Golden Age Radio research as 'certified' anything. By the very definition, research is imperfect. We simply tell the truth. As is our continuing practice, we provide our fully provenanced research results--to the extent possible--right here on the page, for any of our peers to review--or refute--as the case may be. If you take issue with any of our findings, you're welcome to cite any better verifiable source(s) and we'll immediately review them and update our findings accordingly. As more verifiable provenances surface, we'll continue to update the following series log, as appropriate.

All rights reserved by their respective sources. Article and log copyright 2009 The Digital Deli Online--all rights reserved. Any failure to attribute the results of this copywritten work will be rigorously pursued.

[Date, title, and episode column annotations in red refer to either details we have yet to fully provenance or other unverifiable information as of this writing. Red highlights in the text of the 'Notes' columns refer to information upon which we relied in citing dates, date or time changes, or titles.]

The Hallmark Playhouse Program Log

Date

Episode

Title

Avail.

Notes

48-06-10

1

The Devil and Daniel Webster

Y

48-06-10 Wisconsin State Journal
8 p.m.--Playhouse (WBBM): new series with James Hilton as host-narrator; "The Devil and Daniel Webster."

[The Phantom Philly, cited below was in error. The production for this day was adapted from George Agnew Chamberlain's serial short story, The Phantom Filly, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in the winter of 1941.]

AFRS 'Bookshelf of The World' Radio Log

Date

AFRTS No.

Title

Avail.

Notes

49-04-23

--

Old Man Minick

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of December 2nd 1948]

49-04-22 Pacific Stars and Stripes
Saturday, April 22, From
the Bookshelf of The World"Old Man Ninnick." Victor Moore is starred in Edna Ferber's short story "Old Man Ninnick." This is a tender story of a wijower who, finding himself alone in the world accepts an invitation to live with his son and daughter-in-law. But he finds himself lonely there, and in the way and finally moves to Grant's home for aged gentlemen where, at the ripe old age of 70, he finds companionship and a youthful spirit in the friendship of others who in turn have found the same, thing there. Airtime over WVTG
6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 22 Rebroadcast time 9 a.m. Sunday, April 23.

49-05-07

--

Arrowsmith

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of October 14th 1948]

49-04-30 European Stars and Stripes
1530 Bookshelf of the World
"Arrowsmith"

49-06-18

--

Goodbye Mr. Chips

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of September 16th 1948]

49-06-15 Pacific Stars and StripesJune 18
From the Bookshelf of the World "Goodbye Mr. Chips"Ronald Coleman stars in this radio adaptation of the James Hilton best seller.
Mr. Chips was a school teacher, a man whom love touched deeply and then vanished in death. But Mr. Chips found 30 more years of happiness with his students who found Mr. Chips a true friend.

49-07-16

--

Lost Horizon

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of December 30th 1948]

49-07-15 Pacific Stars and StripesTIP Air SlateJuly16
From the bookshelf of the world:
"Lost Horizon."
To the members of the Army,
Navy and Air Forges, James Hilton
is no stranger. He is best remembered
for such outstanding novels as "Random Harvest," "We Are Not Alone," "Goodbye Mister Chips."
Hilton's creative imagination has gained him the well-deserved title of one qf the world's- most distinguished'writers. Now we will hear James Hilton narrate his famous "Lost Horizon," starring the distinguished actor, Herbert Marshall,
Airtime over WVTG: 6:30 p.m., Saturday, July 16, Bebroadcast time: 9 a.m., Sunday, July 17.

49-09-12

--

The Failure

N

[AFRS-denatured rendition of the Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of January27th 1949]

49-09-12 European Stars and Stripes
2030 Bookshelf of the World
"The Failure"

49-10-03

--

Kitty Foyle

N

[AFRS-denatured rendition of the Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of April 21st 1949]

49-09-26 European Stars and Stripes
2030 Bookshelf of the World
"Casey at The Bat"

49-10-10

--

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

N

[AFRS-denatured rendition of the Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of April 28st 1949]

49-10-25 Pacific Stars and Stripes
TOKYO AFRSBookshelf of the World, tonight at 6:30 will dramatize "McLeod's Folly" another story by Louis Bromfield.

50-02-18

--

Mother

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of May 5th 1949]

50-02-17 Pacific Stars and StripesLinda Darnell Will Star
In 'Bookshelf' Broadcast
HQ., MARBOSaturday
AFRS Guam will broadcast a page from The Bookshelf of the World entitled "Mother," adapted for radio from the novel of the same name by Kathleen Norris. Starred in "Mother" is Linda Darnell, who does a superb job. Airtime over Guam AFRS will be 6:30 p.m. Saturday with a rebroadcast at & o'clock Sunday, morning

50-02-21

--

Anna and The King of Siam

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of September 15th 1949]

50-02-20 Pacific Stars and StripesFebruary 21
6-7NEWS, Armed Forces Talk (Your Personal Affairs).
Bookshelf of the World (Anna and the King of Siam)

50-03-25

--

The Virginian

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of September 15th 1949]

50-03-25 Pacific Stars and StripesCarey Has Star Role
In Virginian Aircast
HQ., MARBOSaturday,
APRS Guam will present from "The Bookshelf of the World," Owen Wister's 'The Virginian." The starring role of Jeff will be played by the well-known actor, MacDonald Carey. Airtime 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25. Rebroadcast tune, 9 p.m. Sunday.

50-03-27

--

A Tale of Two Cities

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of September 15th 1949]

50-03-27 European Stars and Stripes
AFN MONDAY
2030 Bookshelf of the World: "The Virginian"

50-04-24

--

The Courtship of Miles Standish

N

[AFRS-denatured Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of November 24th 1949]

50-04-24 European Stars and Stripes
AFN MONDAY
2030 Bookshelf of the World: "The Courtship of Miles Standish"

51-01-27 Pacific Stars and Stripes
6- 7NEWS, Club 15, Bookshelf of the World ((Yankee from Olympus).

AFRS IE-90, IE-99, H-41 and IED-817 'This Is The Story' Program Log

Date

AFRTS No.

Title

Avail.

Notes

49-04-21

--

Woman With A Sword

N

[AFRS-denatured rendition of the Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of December 9th 1948]

49-04-20 Pacific Stars and StripesThursday, April 21, This Is The Story, "Woman With A Sword." Screen actress Ida Lupino stars in a radio adaptation of Hollister Noble's story "Woman With A Sword," this is a story of Anne Ella Carrol, a wisp of a girl from the state of Maryland, who in spite of the fact that she was a Southerner, wanted more than anything for the states to remain together, and therefore worked for the Union in the Civil War. This story credits her with the plan to use the Tennessee River instead of the Mississippi for a water passage into the South for the Northern forces, thereby aiding the Union forces with victory. Airtime over WVTG 6:30 p.m. April 21, rebroadcast time 9 a.m. Friday, April 22.

AFRS IE-90, IE-99, H-41 and IED-817 'This Is The Story' Program Log

Date

AFRTS No.

Title

Avail.

Notes

50-06-15

--

Father Flanagan Of Boys' Town

N

[AFRS-denatured rendition of the Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of December 29th 1949]

50-06-15 European Stars and StripesAFN-THURSDAYAFN
2030 This is the Story "Father Flanagan"

50-07-13

--

Green Grass of Wyoming

N

[AFRS-denatured rendition of the Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of January 26th 1950]

50-06-22 European Stars and StripesAFN-THURSDAYAFN
2030 This is the Story "Green Grass of Wyoming"

AFNotes: At 8:30 the young actor, Lon McAllister stars In "Green Grass of Wyoming" on "This Is the Story."

50-08-07

--

Autobiography of Will Rogers

N

[AFRS-denatured rendition of the Hallmark Playhouse broadcast of February 23rd 1950]

50-08-07 European Stars and StripesAFN-MONDAYAFN
2030 This is the Story "Autobiography of Will Rogers"

AFNotes: At 8:30 Edward Arnold presents "The Autobiography of Will Rogers" on "This Is the Story"

The Hallmark Playhouse Radio Program Biographies

Radiography:1936Town Hall Tonight
1939The Fred Allen Show
1941The Columbia Workshop
1942Michael Piper, Detective
1942This Is War
1942An American In England1943Your All-Time Hit Parade1943To Your Good Health from The House of Squibb1944Music from The House of Squibb1944Columbia Presents Corwin1944Something for The Girls1947The Adventures of Philip Marlowe1947The Ford Theatre1948The Hallmark Playhouse1949Life with Luigi1950For The Living1956The CBS Radio Workshiop1956Suspense

Caption: Chairmaster Lyn Murray had a definite yearning to be a doctor, and play around with test tubes (1938)

Lyn Murray, ca. 1948

Lyn Murray, ca. 1978

Lyn Murray was a natural to complete the last three installments of An American In England. He'd been a staple of many of Norman Corwin's cutting-edge CBS productions and he'd long since established himself as one of CBS's most talented staff vocalists, directors, composers and arrangers.

Beginning as a vocalist with CBS in 1934, his rising star led CBS to have him assemble various groups of singers and staff chorales over the next three years, each time rewarded by more and more acceptance for his beautiful arrangements.

By 1937, with CBS's encouragement, Vocal Director Lyn Murray was touring the country with his 24-voice chorale, The New Yorkers and a sixteen member ballet company--to rave reviews. If you do the math you'll note he was only 28 at the time.

Murray was often quoted as saying he approached directing his choruses as a mechanical engineering exercise, treating each unique voice as a finely tuned instrument which must fit in perfect concert with all of the other complementary vocal instruments, so as for form a perfectly functioning vocal machine. In this regard he was always obsessed with perfect timing throughout the 'machine' during rehearsals, before he'd ever enter the control room for a recording session.

This approach served him well as his star continued to rise throughout the Radio industry. He was repeatedly selected for many of CBS's most ambitious musical projects. In the 1940s, NBC also took notice of his talent, eventually appointing him as Musical Director.

His radio credits included the 'Radio Reader's Digest,' 'The March of Time,' 'Twenty-Six by Corwin' and, a program that used his mixed choir, the Lyn Murray Singers, 'Your All-Time Hit Parade.'

His first work in Film was in 1947's High Conquest, as one of three music directors. His following assignment as the uncredited vocals director for Walt Disney's Cinderella, in 1950 propelled him into the big leagues. In quick succession he composed the original scores for 1952's Son of Paleface, for Bob Hope, the breathtaking sound-track for 1954's The Bridges at Toko-Ri, and Alfred Hitchcock's masterful To Catch A Thief, in 1955, which immediately propelled him to the level of one of Hitchcock's favorite composers, Bernard Herrmann. It's worth re-screening To Catch A Thief to be reminded of its incredible sound-track alone.

Murray was also in demand for Stage work, composing the choral music for the Broadway musicals ''Panama Hattie'' and ''Finian's Rainbow.''

From 1960, through the remainder of his career he worked mostly in Television, as composer or musical director for over 40 Television projects, among them, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Twilight Zone, It Takes A Thief, Dragnet, 1974's award winning Lincoln mini-series, and he won an Emmy for his 1986 National Geographic Special score for 'Miraculous Machines.'

Lionel Barrymore will offer his 17th radio performance as Ebenezer Scrooge over WMT's "Hallmark Radio Hall of Fame" on Sunday, Dec. 20, at 8 p.rn. Barrymore will do the full story of Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol."
The role of Scrooge has become a Christmas tradition for Lionel, and only once was he unable to go through with a scheduled performance for radio audiences. That was on Christmas 1936. His wife had died the evening before. His brother, the late John. Barrymore, volunteered to take his place as Scrooge, without rehearsal.
On other Sundays, this outstanding radio "series presents dramas based on the lives of well known and lesser-known but unusual heroes of the American past. Mr. Barrymore is the regular host and narrator for "Hallmark Radio Hall of Fame."
Lionel, of course, is a distinguished member of America's most illustrious theatrical family. He made his first professional appearance at the age of 15 with his celebrated grandmother, Mrs. John Drew, on Christmas Day, 1893.
Brother of the great John and Ethel, "Mr. B." as Lionel is affectionately called by fellow artists, was born in Philadelphia April 28, 1878, the son of Maurice Barrymore and Georgia Drew.
Shortly after his acting debut, Lionel left to study art in Paris, but returned after a year to join his brother John in a Broadway production of "Peter Ibbetson."
Barrymore's movie career began in 1909 when he gave a number of rich ,memorable performances for the old Biograph company. He joined the star roster of MGM in 1926. When sound came to the screen, Barrymore turned to directing. He is credited with a number of technical innovations, among them the distinction of being the first director to use a moving microphone on a sound stage. He still continued his acting too, and joined the ranks of Academy Award winners for his work in "A Free Soul" opposite Norma Shearer.
In addition to his artistry in his profession, Lionel Barrymore is talented in other fields. His etchings rank him among the foremost artists of the day, and his compositions have earned for him sincere praise from the music world.